The Unity Scoop – October 11

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the week has been good to you and your loved ones.

As we embark on a long fall weekend, I, on behalf of our entire faculty and staff, want to thank you for your continued active support and collaboration.  As mentioned last week, the school year is off to a strong and promising start and so much of our early success is due to our collaboration with you.  Let’s stay the course!

In this edition of the Scoop, I offer an abundance of academic highlights from our students in action in their classrooms and on college campuses.  We’re excited to announce our first Family Ambassadors Meeting of the year, happening this Thursday at 6 PM on Zoom. Additionally, we have an update to share about one of our talented alumni!

Have a rejoiceful three-day weekend, as we look forward to reconvening on Tuesday morning!

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard

Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of October 11, 2024:

1. New – Highlights of Students and Their Teachers in Action This Week!: Enjoy the wonderful photos below of our students and staff in action this past week in science classes!

Ms. Bonhomme and Ms. Diaz’s 7th grade students act as engineers as they design a process for constructing, testing, and refining earthquake resistant prototypes.

Ms. Bond’s 8th grade students engage in friendly group competition as they review the phase changes between solid, liquid, and gas using trivia on Kahoot!

2. New – Unity’s Seniors Visited the Campuses of a Number of Local Colleges and Universities!  Unity’s 12 graders visited five colleges and universities in New York City today, including Columbia University, Long Island University, St. Francis College, St. Joseph’s College, and Hunter College.  Enjoy the photos from their visits below!

3. New – First Unity Family Ambassadors Meeting of the Year, Thursday, October 17th, 6pm!: All Unity families are welcome to participate in our first Family Ambassadors Meeting of the school year (via Zoom).  Ambassadors help play an active leadership role in providing the best possible educational experience to our students!  Ambassadors meet monthly to plan new events and initiatives and play a significant role in accentuating school community experiences.  The Zoom meeting link is here.  See you Thursday on Zoom!

4. Updated – Unity Students in Grades 6-8 Outperform Their Peers Across New York State in Math, English Language Arts (ELA), and Science!  Our students showed off the impressive skills that they developed over the course of the 2023-24 school year as they performed better in math, reading & writing, and science compared to the average student in key districts of comparison and the state of New York.  Kudos to our team and our families for their impact on student learning!

5. New – Unity High Earns Advanced Placement Honor Roll Status with CollegeBoard!  Unity has been recognized by the College Board for delivering results for students while broadening access. Unity’s Honor Roll status reflects a commitment to increasing college-going culture, providing opportunities for students to earn college credit and maximizing college readiness.  Congratulations to our high school leaders and our AP teachers!  Indeed, this is an impressive achievement and reflects our commitment as a grades 6-12 school to excellence and access.

• 100% of graduates completed at least one AP course while in grades 9-12 (this reflects high access and exposure to college-ready coursework)
• 26% of graduates earned college credit while in high school (vs. the national average of 21%)
• 21% of graduates completed at least 5 AP courses while in grades 9-12 (this represents ample opportunity for students to thrive academically in college-ready coursework while in high school)

6. New – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Joel Watson, Unity’s Class of 2022: We are thrilled to share with our entire community the accomplishments of our alumni whenever we can.  This month, we proudly provide an update on the postsecondary success of Joel Watson, who is enrolled at Brooklyn College.

Joel Watson graduated from Unity in 2022. He now attends CUNY Brooklyn College and is majoring in Digital Art with a minor in Digital Design and Production.

Joel dreams of being a director or producer of a TV show or movie in the future, and he is steadily making progress towards this goal. Joel has taken classes even during winter break and summer to get ahead!

While at Brooklyn College, Joel has received stellar grades, and is on track to graduate with his Bachelor’s Degree in May 2026. He has already completed 75 credits and we are so, so proud of him!

The latest news on Joel is that he is building his resume to find internships in the media production field. We can’t wait to see what this Unity alumni will do next.

7. Updated – October 2024 Schoolwide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of October – print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! It is possible that events could change and new events could be added.  An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website.

8. Updated – Refer a New Student to Unity Today!: Unity has a few seats available in grades 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11 for the 2024-25 school year. If you know of any interested families, please reach out to Mr. Beckford via email or cell (862-294-0219). For any families that refer a new family, both referring and enrolling families will be given a $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies.

9. Updated – The Fall Athletic Season is Now Upon Us!: See the October calendar above for details on this coming week’s games.  Come out to support our student-athletes in action.  Go Panthers!

10. Updated – Save the Date! Unity’s Campuses to Join Forces to Support The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on Saturday, October 27th: Members of our community from grades 6 through 12 will participate in a 3-mile walk on Saturday, October 27th, in support of The American Cancer Society (ACS).  ACS’s Making Strides initiative raises lifesaving funds that support breast cancer patients, survivors, thrivers, and caregivers through every step of the journey.  Unity families are encouraged to take part –  sign up here to participate!

11. Recap – Unity Middle School Students to Earn Dress Down and Pizza by Practicing their ELA and Math Skills during Tutoring Class!  Families – see the flier below and please encourage students to develop their ELA and math foundational skills through focused practice during their daily tutoring block.  Through this practice, we look forward to celebrating their growth alongside you in the coming months!

12. Recap – Urban Advantage Family Science Days – Free Admission to some of the City’s Premiere Museums and Institutions for Unity Students in Grades 6-8!: Through Unity’s partnership with Urban Advantage (UA), middle school families may visit the following museums for free!  See the instructions below for how to obtain a family voucher.  Visit here for additional information.  Contact your child’s science teacher with questions.

Visit any of these Institutions with your family free of charge!

13. Recap – Guidance on Supporting your Child with School at Home: As communicated last week, there are four things that you are encouraged to engage in at home and over the course of this month in getting off to a strong start to the school year.  Congratulations on completing #4 below this week.

1. Ask your child about their school day and, more generally, how things are going.  If our team can be helpful to your child in ensuring that they are enjoying their school experience, please reach out to help.ms@unityprep.org or help.hs@unityprep.org or your child’s advisor.
2. Take a moment to check Jupiter for the latest information regarding your child’s progress.  If you are unfamiliar with how to log into Jupiter, here is a brief video tutorial.  And if you have questions about your child’s specific information in Jupiter, email your child’s advisor for support.
3. Establish a designated space and routine at home for your child to complete any homework or practice the skills they are learning in school.  Establishing routines early will reap dividends over the school year and cultivate sound study habits that will benefit your child at Unity and beyond.
4. ☑ Attend your child’s Back-to-School Night Session.  These in-person events are an extremely valuable part of our collaboration, as families learn about curricula, academic programming, and what your child will be learning this year.  Details on dates and times are featured below; you should have also received details  of the event via email and text.  The expectation is that 100% of families participate.

14. Recap – 2024-25 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families: Calendars for the 2024-25 school year can be accessed using the links below.  Note that we have two versions this year – one version for our middle school (grades 6-8) and another version for our high school (grades 9-12).

• Grades 6-8 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
• Grades 9-12 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families